Tuesday, August 4, 2015

IN HOC SIGNO VINCES

Seventeen
centuries ago, the Roman Emperor Constantine was converted to Christianity. It
is recorded that he saw a vision of a cross above the sun bearing the Latin
message, In Hoc Signo Vinces meaning
“in this sign, you shall conquer.”

And
conquer, he did. Not only militarily, but religiously. It was during his reign
that Christianity went from being a despised and persecuted sect meeting in
catacombs to avoid being fed to the lions or crucified, to become the official
state religion of the world wide Roman Empire.

For all
practical purposes, it was Constantine who launched the civilization which came
to be known as Christendom. Joseph Pearce, the writer in residence at Aquinas
College in Nashville, Tennessee, defines ‘Christendom” thusly,

Christendom is best and most succinctly defined in traditional
ecclesiological terms as the Church Militant…Her war is with the world and its
worldliness. Her war is not fought with soldiers but with saints and also with
those sinners who are trying to become saints. Her weapons are not those that
bring death but life to her enemies. The culture of life that she brings with
her is animated by the goodness of virtue, the truth of reason, and the beauty
of God’s image in His creatures. She is the wellspring of civilization.

Up until a few years ago, colleges and universities in America
offered a course called Western Civilization. It was the secularized version of
the study of Christendom. Mostly, it was a chronicle of wars and battles,
conquests and defeats.

Evangelism always has the smell of warfare. We talk about
battling for the hearts and minds of people. Almost in the same breath, we
mention boots on the ground.

Constantine
went from ruthless persecution of Christians to ruthless promotion of Christianity.
It took a long time and lot of bloodshed for Christendom to become the
wellspring of civilization.

In our
day, the most truculently militant religion is Islam. Mohammedanism brooks no
dissent. The mass murder of non believers, the beheadings of Christians, the
slaughter of those branded as ‘infidels’ brazenly portrayed in videos on the
Internet, sends the chilling message that the days of religious warfare are not
yet relegated to the history books.

I came
to ruminate about these things as the result of an email from a very good
friend in Florida. It was one of those chain letter initiatives that are so
often inspired by good intentions and so often based on ‘facts’ that are not
factual.

The
message claimed that the President of the United States has abolished the
National Day of Prayer created by Congress; that he celebrated a Muslim Day of
Prayer instead; that he has said that America is no longer a Christian nation.

A visit
to Snopes was enough to persuade me that the chain letter is based on a hoax. Among
other things, it claimed that the President was authorizing elective courses in
the Quran for American school children. That claim, Snopes points out
originated on a satirical web site called the National Report.

It is
not the first time that well meaning, but naïve, conservatives have fallen for
National Report satire. Among their other offerings: outrageous fictional
stories such as "IRS Plans to Target Leprechauns Next," "Boy
Scouts Announce Boobs Merit Badge," and "New CDC Study Indicates Pets
of Gay Couples Worse at Sports, Better at Fashion Than Pets of Straight
Couples."

In the
‘Quran in the schools’ bit of political tongue-in-cheek, National Report gave
an actual telephone number for the National Muslim Outreach Hotline. The number
was that of the Republican National Committee.

I felt
sorry for my Florida friend, who sent me the chain letter. It called for
recruiting a virtual army of 100 million vocal Christians who would stand
together against the Islamizing of America.

I sure
would like to see 100 million American Christians standing up for their faith.
That’s why I answered him by suggesting that he ask his friends to sign the
Manhattan Declaration. It’s a clarion call to Christians to sign up and be
counted. 551,274 have already signed. I invite you to do so as well.

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